Boilers

By Josh Riverside

Boilers are a common heating device for most homes in the US. The warmth generated by boilers through an intricate system has made the lives of millions in the US comfortable. Boilers have become a necessity in the US and there is hardly a household that does not possess these gadgets. Boilers heat water, supplying either hot water or steam for the purpose of heating.

Steam is disseminated through pipes to steam radiators, while hot water can be supplied by means of baseboard radiators or radiant floor systems, or can heat air with the help of a coil. Steam boilers function at a higher temperature than hot water boilers, and are essentially less effective. But thanks to modern technology, high-efficiency forms of all sorts of boilers are presently obtainable.

A central boiler's effectiveness is determined with the help of annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE). Prevailing laws in the US make it mandatory for boiler manufacturers to provide information about their AFUE to consumers, so that they can compare the heating effectiveness of different models. AFUE is an indication of an appliance’s effectiveness through a particular year. In precise terms, AFUE is the ratio of heat output of the boiler in contrast to the entire energy used by a boiler.

Electric boilers are highly efficient, but the high cost of electricity in the US deters consumers from using them. The AFUE rating for an all-electric boiler is between 95% and 100%. A boiler’s efficiency can also be gauged, apart from the AFUE, by the characteristics of its equipment. Mid-efficiency heating systems are characterized by a natural draft that generates a supply of combustion gases, a continuous pilot light, and a heavy heat exchanger.

High-efficiency boilers are marked by an exhaust fan that controls the flow of combustion air and combustion gases more accurately, an electronic ignition that ensures the absence of a pilot light, a compact size, a lighter weight to diminish cycling losses, and a small-diameter pipe.

Boilers provides detailed information on Boiler Professionals, Boilers, Electric Boilers, Gas Boilers and more. Boilers is affiliated with Solar Energy Panels.

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Boiler Insurance - Save On Expensive Bills

By Mike Gracia

Gas Central Heating Boiler Insurance

Most gas-fired boilers are now high-performance which means that more than 80% of the heat produced is put out as viable heating energy, which ensures both adequate heating and substantial energy savings and heating costs. There are two main types of gas boilers:

Wall mounted boilers;

Floor standing boilers;

Both can provide a simple service, which means that they just provide energy to heat your home, or dual-service/combi boilers, which means that they can heat the home and also produce hot water, either instantly when the tap is turned, or stored in a hot water tank for use as needed,

Whichever type of boiler you may choose for your home, these are complex machines that are expected to produce hot water without ever letting you down, Boilers are highly efficient in that they require little maintenance and they seldom break down. The problem is that when these complicated machines do eventually malfunction they can be very expensive to repair, that is why boiler insurance is a very useful addition to your regular household insurance policies.

The dangers of an under-qualified technician working on central heating boilers are immense, with the possibility of serious and even life threatening errors. Not only is there the possibility of a gas leak and explosion, there is also the ever present threat of the 'silent killer' carbon monoxide poisoning. Do not ever cut corners when it comes to your central heating boilers maintenance and repair, take out quality boiler insurance to safeguard your family, and get a regular boiler service

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Boiler Breakdown - Is Your Heating Covered?

Heating your home isn't so much of a problem in the summer, but unless you're in the habit of only taking cold showers and boiling the kettle every time you wash up, you could be left high and dry if your boiler breaks down. The boiler is a part of the home which is rarely, if ever, thought of, until it stops working. Suddenly it becomes a very prominent and rather expensive piece of essential equipment.

If you rent your home, you won't have to worry about having some money aside for boiler repairs; your landlord will cover it. But if you're a homeowner, you may want to think about putting a little aside to cover the costs should anything go wrong.

If your boiler is over ten years old, it might be worth investing in a new model; this can cut your fuel costs down considerably, especially if you get a high-efficiency model. Depending on the amount of space in your home, the size of your family and the existing boiler, you would have a choice as to the type of boiler to go for. A combi boiler is the most widely known, and is good for small homes with few people, or people who don't want to wait for their hot water. A combi boiler draws water and heats it through the mains, doing away with the need for a storage tank. Hot water is instant and on demand; but if someone runs a hot tap while you're having a nice hot shower, be prepared to jump out quickly!

A sealed system boiler uses a single storage tank, usually in an airing cupboard, and enables a large family to have several taps or showers on the go at once, without compromising hot water or water pressure. The system boiler is quick and easy to install, and doesn't take up too much space. However, because of the storage tank, hot water isn't instant and can run out if used too quickly.

An open vent boiler is the norm in most older homes, and takes up the most space; two water tanks in the loft and a storage cylinder in the airing cupboard. Like the sealed system, this type of boiler can allow multiple outlets to draw hot water a the same time, but can also take a while to heat and doesn't give the best water pressure.

Finally, a back boiler can allow multiple outlets of hot water at the same time, without loss of pressure; but they can take up a lot of space. Traditionally back boilers are stored in a chimney breast, but unless you already have one, it's probably not worth switching to one. But if your home had a back boiler installed when you moved in, it can save you a lot of money; if it needs replacing, it's far cheaper to get a new back boiler to replace and old one than it is to get a completely different system installed.

Whichever boiler your home has, it can be costly to repair. Taking out heating insurance can provide peace of mind that if something goes wrong with your heating system, your costs will be covered. Take out a policy that covers annual boiler inspections as well as call-outs and repairs and you could save yourself an extra £95 per year.

Consider taking out heating cover for your home. With heating cover, you can have your boiler repaired as quick as possible. Heating cover can also cover your drains, plumbing and electrical. Check with your provider.

J Tillotson is a financial author in the UK

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Hot Water Boilers

A hot water boiler is an enclosed container that allows heat to be transmitted into water till the time it becomes heated water. The hot water is then effectively utilized for transferring the heat to where it is needed. A hot water boiler is filled with water, unlike the steam boiler.

However, like the steam boiler, hot water boilers have many add-ons to function effectively. The presence of aquastat serves a two-fold objective. It monitors the temperature in which the boiler runs, and offers a low-voltage transformer and relay to control the circulator.

A majority of commercial buildings, manufacturers and businesses employ hot water boilers. Water is heated to dispersing temperatures, characteristically 140-180ºF, and generally put back about 20ºF lower.

These structures are called "closed loop," with nominal fresh water make-up. Hot water boilers are favored since they generally do not call for operators or complex water chemistry. As they function at lower temperatures, hot water boilers can perform at greater fuel-conversion efficiencies than steam boilers.

Some of the characteristic features of a hot water boiler include low water fuel cutoff and a safety valve. Low water fuel cutoff dries up the supply of fuel to the burner during low water conditions in the boiler. The low water fuel cut ff is positioned 2" to 6" beneath the boiler water level.

Low water fuel discontinues operations using an electric probe or a float sensor. When the sensor displays a low water state, a contact to the main burner control circuit unlocks and blocks the fuel.

Low water fuel cutoffs should be checked regularly based on usage or necessities. If a low water condition is not correctly gauged there are chances for the boiler to overheat. Under these circumstances boilers are likely to be damaged for good. Safety valves are the most significant devices on a boiler. They unbolt to vent pressure that climbs over the maximum boiler operating pressure.

Boilers provides detailed information on Boiler Professionals, Boilers, Electric Boilers, Gas Boilers and more. Boilers is affiliated with Solar Energy Panels.

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Boiler modifications cut mercury emissions 70 percent or more, research team finds

Inexpensive technique verified in full-scale tests at three coal-fired power plants

Researchers at Lehigh University's Energy Research Center (ERC) have developed and successfully tested a cost-effective technique for reducing mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants.

In full-scale tests at three power plants, says lead investigator Carlos E. Romero, the Lehigh system reduced flue-gas emissions of mercury by as much as 70 percent or more with modest impact on plant performance and fuel cost.

The reductions were achieved, says Romero, by modifying the physical conditions of power-plant boilers, including flue gas temperature, the size of the coal particles that are burned, the size and unburned carbon level of the fly ash, and the fly ash residence time. These modifications promote the in-flight capture of mercury, Romero said.

The ERC researchers reported their findings in an article titled "Modification of boiler operating conditions for mercury emissions reductions in coal-fired utility boilers," which will be published in a forthcoming issue of the journal Fuel.

Mercury enters the atmosphere as a gas and can remain airborne several years before it precipitates with rain and falls into bodies of water, where it is ingested by fish. Because mercury is a neurotoxin, people who consume large quantities of fish can develop brain and nervous ailments. Forty-four states have mercury advisories.

Coal-fired power plants are the largest single-known source of mercury emissions in the U.S. Estimates of total mercury emissions from coal-fired plants range from 40 to 52 tons.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last March issued its first-ever regulations restricting the emission of mercury from coal-fired power plants. The order mandates reductions of 23 percent by 2010 and 69 percent by 2018. Four states-Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut and Wisconsin-issued their own restrictions before the March 15 action by the EPA.

The changes in boiler operating conditions, said Romero, prevent mercury from being emitted at the stack and promote its oxidation in the flue gas and adsorption into the fly ash instead. Oxidized mercury is easily captured by scrubbers, filters and other boiler pollution-control equipment.

The ERC team used computer software to model boiler operating conditions and alterations and then collaborated with Western Kentucky University on the field tests. Analysis of stack emissions showed that the new technology achieved a 50- to 75-percent reduction of total mercury in the flue gas with minimal to modest impact on unit thermal performance and fuel cost. This was achieved at units burning bituminous coals.

Only about one-third of mercury is captured by coal-burning power plant boilers that are not equipped with special mercury-control devices, Romero said.

Romero estimated that the new ERC technology could save a 250-megawatt power unit as much as $2 million a year in mercury-control costs. The savings could be achieved, he said, by applying the ERC method solely or in combination with a more expensive technology called activated carbon injection, which would be used by coal-fired power plants to reduce mercury emissions. The resulting hybrid method, says Romero, would greatly reduce the approximately 250 pounds per hour of activated carbon that a 250-MW boiler needs to inject to curb mercury emissions.

The new ERC technology was developed by Romero, ERC director Edward Levy, ERC associate director Nenad Sarunac, ERC research scientist Harun Bilirgen, and Ying Li, who recently received an M.S. in mechanical engineering from Lehigh.

The breakthrough follows years of work by ERC researchers in optimizing boiler operations to control emissions of NOx, CO, particulates and other pollutants.

For their mercury-emission research, the ERC group received a total of $1.2 million in funding from a consortium of utility companies, the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Technology Alliance and the U.S. Department of Energy.

It is expensive to check for levels of mercury emissions, says Romero, because mercury levels are measured in parts per billion, while NOx levels are measured in parts per million.

The ERC tests were performed at a power plant in Alexandria, Virginia, and at two units of a power plant in Massachusetts. The ERC and Western Kentucky University will conduct tests next year at an additional unit firing Powder River Basin sub-bituminous coals.

Romero discussed his group's findings at the 2004 Pittsburgh Coal Conference in Osaka, Japan, where he gave a paper titled "Impact of Boiler Operating Conditions on Mercury Emission in Coal-Fired Utility Boilers."

He has given half a dozen presentations on his group's findings so far this year, including an address at the ICAC (Institute of Clean Air Companies) Clean Air Technologies and Strategies Conference in Baltimore in March.

Lehigh University

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Gas Boiler: Help! My Home is Heated by (GASP) Hot Water Heated by Electric Boiler!

By Gil Strachan

Could you help me? My home is heated by (gasp) hot water heated by electric boiler. Where could I get a lead on a gas boiler that is not going to bust the bank. Can one be bought used? We already have gas service for our hot water heater and clothes dryer. We look forward to getting a gas range... but the most economic thing is to get that boiler changed. Is there a market for used electric boilers? Any advice or opinion will be appreciated. Thanks.

There are some options... (prices are only "ball park" and are dependant on the size of your house)

1. You could purchase a gas boiler and have it installed for $3500(+), or

2. There is a new type of gas water heater, which has a heat exchanger built-in, to provide heating water. These start at about $2800 and of course, this option might only be practical if your existing water heater is older, or rented - otherwise you'd have a used water heater to dispose of, as well as your electric boiler, or

3. You could rent either of the above for a lesser amount, the difference being recouped within your rental agreement.

4. If your electric unit is in good shape, it might be suitable for someone in a rural location, where there's no gas service available - but overall, they're not a popular item these days.

5. There's a slim chance that you might find a used gas boiler, but not the water heater combo-unit, as they are brand new on the market. Unfortunately, your electric unit cannot be retrofitted to gas.

6. Heating suppliers can give you more specific information on product lines and installed prices.

Copyright Gil Strachan - All rights reserved.

Gil Strachan is a professional home inspector, representing Electrospec Home Inspection Services in east-central Ontario, Canada since 1994. Visit http://www.allaroundthehouse.com to learn more about home inspections.

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Keeping the boiler burning

By H. Bernstein - Editor, StockPatrol

Boiler rooms, which thrived in the 1980s and 1990s, are still active according to the SEC, who charged Discover Capital Holdings Corp of bilking retirees out of $1.1 billion.

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The demise of the brokerage boiler room has been greatly exaggerated. In broker-speak, a boiler room is a high pressure sales operation where salespersons aggressively hawk overvalued stock by providing misinformation and making empty promises. Boiler rooms thrived in the 1980s and 1990s but faded from prominence after regulators clamped down on penny stock firms, and forced the most notorious of those operations out of business.Those firms may be gone, but boiler rooms have survived. And why not? They work. Last week, the SEC filed an action accusing Discover Capital Holdings Corp., a Uniondale New York based financial services company, and its wholly owned subsidiary, Indianapolis Securities Inc. of Boca Raton, Florida, of cheating investors out of approximately $1.1 billion through a boiler room driven private placement scheme.

According to the SEC, Discover's president, Eli Dinov, his brother Ari Dinov (who was Indianapolis's secretary and treasurer), and David Rubinov, all of Brooklyn, New York, employed high-pressure "boiler room" sales tactics to sell a fraudulent and unregistered private placement of Discover securities to elderly and retired investors. Regulators say that the scheme targeted retirees who had been customers of several defunct brokerage firms, including Denver-based Rocky Mountain Securities and Investments, whose accounts had been transferred to Indianapolis Securities.

The Dinov brothers have been associated with a number of small brokerages in New York and California. Eli Dinov was censured, fined and suspended by the NASD in 2000 after he failed to pay for securities he had purchased for his personal account. The SEC barred Rubinov from working as a broker in July 2002 after he settled charges that he had engaged in fraudulent sales practices while employed at the firm of W. J. Nolan. Prospective investors in the Discover private placement were not told of this disciplinary history.The SEC complaint charges that the defendants and their boiler room sales force provided false information to investors, including claims that Indianapolis Securities had applied to the NASD to act as an online broker; that the private placement provided a means by which individuals could obtain Discover Capital stock at a significant discount to its public market price; and that Discover Capital stock would be worth $8.00-$30.00 per share within months to a year.

In addition to their aggressive telephone sales, the defendants allegedly employed e-mails claiming, falsely, that Discover Capital planned to increase its revenues fifty-fold and have $5 billion in "assets under management" within the next five years.

The SEC Complaint also charges that the defendants engaged in a related scheme to fraudulently inflate the public market for Discover Capital common stock by surreptitiously selling thousands of Discover Capital shares that were secretly controlled by Rubinov, at inflated prices.

A federal judge in Washington, D.C. issued a temporary restraining order freezing the assets of Discover and Indianapolis Securities.

That's where things stood when we published our report in June 2002.

Now, it's clear that our concerns were justified.

Article Sources:
• 5/00 - PREPARING YOUR BOILER FOR THE CHANGE OF SEASONS KEEPING ...
• The dangers of a faulty boiler explained on uSwitch.com
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Solar Boilers - Have the sun pay your energy bill

Residential hot water is a significant energy consumer for most households. In fact, hot water is sometimes the largest single energy cost. Using solar energy to provide at least some of the hot water in your household can result in significant savings.

There are several ways that solar energy can be integrated into a hot water system. Although solar boilers can be used on their own, they are most often used in conjunction with traditional water heaters which are powered by gas or electricity. In this kind of system, the water heated with solar energy can be used on its own (if it is hot enough) or as preheated water for the traditional water heater. Pre heated water will also dramatically decrease your energy bill.

Solar boilers can be used in any type of climate but are most practical in areas which don't have freezing weather during the wintertime. Solar hot water systems in colder climates can use indirect heating systems which do not expose the water to the freezing temperatures. Instead, a fluid that resists freezing circulates through the solar panels and is used to heat the water. Southern climates can use direct heating systems where the water itself passes through the solar panels installed on the roof.

There are two basic types of solar hot water systems -- active and passive. Passive systems rely on gravity and the natural flow of water from hot to cold. They are simple systems and require very little maintenance. They are durable and long-lasting. You can easely build simple systems yourself all you will need are parts that you can find in any hardware store.

Active systems make use of pumps to circulate the water. In some systems, the pumps can be powered with solar energy; otherwise they must be connected to the household electrical supply. In both systems a storage tank is needed to hold the heated water.

On hot days with plenty of direct sunlight solar systems can heat water with surprising efficiency. During this kind of weather, there may be no need to use electricity or gas as a backup. When the weather is colder, the solar heaters can preheat the water which passes into the traditional water heater. This preheated water requires much less energy to bring to proper temperatures which can result in significant savings on your energy bills.

As with all alternative energy systems there is a lot of room for your own imagination if you like that. If you don't you don't and just use the technology, but for those who like to play around with technology like myself these systems offer a myriad of possibilities to think about.

For example, a stirling engine converts changes in temperature into mechanical motion, for example to generate electricity. Mmm, that's a nice thought. A change in temperature is something this system will provide, but it will also heat your water. A double benefit?

About The Author:

Hans is an off grid enthusiast and author at

http://www.alternative-energy-guide.com/ Visit us for introductory and more
advanced articles.

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Methods of Improving Boiler Efficiency

By Thomas Yoon

With the rising cost of fuel prices, industries that use steam boilers for heating or power generation are hard pressed to operate at peak efficiencies.

While steam consumption, leakages, and other heat transmission losses can contribute to the overall energy bill, this article focuses on the heart of the steam generator - the boiler.

Controlling the boiler is of utmost importance in any steam generation energy saving program. Below are some ways to improve boiler efficiencies:

• Reducing excess air
• Installing economizer
• Reducing scale and deposits
• Reducing blow down
• Recovering waste heat from blow down
• Stopping dynamic operation
• Reducing boiler pressure
• Operating at peak efficiency
• Preheating combustion air
• Switching from steam to air atomization
• Switching to lower cost fuel

Reducing Excess Air

By far the most common reason for energy inefficiencies in a boiler can be attributed to the use of excess air during combustion at the burners. When there is more air than is required for combustion, the extra air becomes heated up and is finally discharged out to the atmosphere. However, there are reasons for putting in some extra air for combustion - to compensate for imperfect burner fuel-air mixing conditions, air density changes, control system "slop", burner maintenance, fuel composition and viscosity variation, and imperfect atomizing steam or air controls for burners.

Adjusting the fuel-air ratio for combustion can be quite tricky. If the fuel is too much as compared to the air, incomplete combustion occurs. This will give rise to carbon soot deposits inside the combustion chamber or even over the boiler tubes.

The consequences of having soot deposits over the heat transfer surfaces and the potential of having explosive flue gases inside the boiler are much worst than losing a slight amount of energy through the exhaust stack. Therefore, many boiler operators choose to adjust their burners to be slightly on excess air.

Installing Economizer

This is only appropriate if there are insufficient heat transfer surfaces in the boiler. The economizer tubes may contain either circulating boiler water or circulating feed water. Because the temperature of the exhaust gases can be quite high, the economizer tubes may be fitted with safety valves to avoid over-pressure damage. Also temperature control of feed water is required to prevent pump airlock. To avoid corrosion, careful design is needed to ensure that the exhaust flue gas temperature does not drop below the dew point.

Reducing Scale and Deposits

For any boiler operation, this is a must. The safety of the boiler is at stake. Any scale or deposits will lead to reduced heat transfer that will eventually lead to overheating, reduction of mechanical strength of the steel and finally to bursting.

This should already be in the normal daily procedure of boiler operation.

Reducing Blow down

Blow down of boiler water is discharging hot water into the drains. However, blow down is necessary to maintain the boiler water concentration of dissolved solids that are necessary for conditioning the boiler water. The dissolved solids are necessary for preventing boiler corrosion and scaling.

As steam is generated from the evaporation of water, the remaining water in the boiler becomes more and more concentrated. This must be drained away during blow down.

The challenge is to control the draining to the minimum.

Recovering Waste Heat from Blow down

Since it is necessary to blow down to control the total dissolved solids in the boiler water, methods can be adopted to recover back some of the heat from the drained hot water.

Blow down tanks, heat exchanger tubes and pumping arrangements can be fabricated to recover some of the heat back into the boiler.

Stopping Dynamic Operation

Whenever a boiler starts or stops, a few minutes are spent running the forced draft fan for purging the combustion chamber of unburnt gases. This is a necessary step for the safe operation of a boiler.

During this time the heat from the boiler water in the shell or tubes will be lost to the purging air.

To avoid this type of losses, it is better to maintain a steady firing condition in the boilers.

Reducing Boiler Pressure

By reducing the boiler pressure, some of the heat losses through leakages or transmission may be reduced slightly. However there can be problems with the boiler with reduced pressure. The boiler circulation may be upset and the steam lines may have insufficient capacity and flow to transport the low pressure steam.

Operating at Peak Efficiency

When operating two or more boilers, improved efficiency can sometimes be obtained by unequal sharing of the load so that the combined load operates at peak efficiency.

Preheating Combustion Air

Any heat loss from the skin of the boiler to the boiler room can be utilized back for combustion. By preheating the intake air the combustion in the furnace becomes more efficient.

Switching from Steam to Air Atomization

For burners with steam atomization, switching to air atomization will naturally result in less steam consumption overall and better boiler efficiencies. This is only applicable for heavy fuel oil burners.

Switching to Lower Cost Fuel

When comparing natural gas and fuel oil, if the cost is the same or more per BTU delivered, switch over to fuel oil.

The reason for this is that in the combustion process, hydrogen combines with oxygen to form water. The latent heat of vaporization is lost when water vapor leaves the boiler stack.

Fuels like natural gas with higher hydrogen to carbon ratio will lose this heat more than those with lower hydrogen-carbon ratio like fuel oil.

However one must also recognize that there will be increased maintenance, operating costs and greater need for more excess air in order to achieve complete combustion for fuel oil. In addition, soot deposits and incomplete combustion might also affect the overall costs.

Some of the ways mentioned above may not be feasible at all for your plant. Each of them may result in only a few percentage points of boiler efficiency improvement. However, if carried out carefully and with the proper tools and instruments, they do add up to huge savings.

Many years of working experience in Marine, Facilities, Construction has given the author material for writing e-books and articles related to engineering, and management. Subscribe to facworld ezine

More information at Marine Engineer and M & E Engineer

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